Friday, September 16, 2011

YOU reading this now, YOU who followed us on Facebook, YOU who tracked us on Twitter, YOU who met us along the route, YOU who shared our journey with friends, YOU who encouraged us, YOU were part of our team. We wanted to thank YOU, the entire Hand Up 4 East Africa team, for helping raise awareness and funds for the starving women and children who walk countless miles in search of food and aid. Without your support Hand Up 4 East Africa would not have reached its fundraising goal. Without your words of encouragement Hand Up 4 East Africa would never have been able to walk through excruciating pain, torrential rain, oppressive heat and scorching sun. By your words of encouragement and guided by a mission larger than all of us, Hand Up 4 East Africa traversed 168 miles from Holland, through Grand Rapids, Lansing, Howell, Brighton, Novi and Farmington to end in Hart Plaza in Detroit.

Jessica, Brian and I can not express in words how thankful we are to the whole Hand Up 4 East Africa team...YOU.

Your help has spread awareness of drought, famine, and the victims of these. With your help we have reached ~$11,000 in life saving funds. Although we all met these initial goals the needs persist, women and children still walk and you can still help. Please continue to share information about the victims of the drought in East Africa, the hope that exists and how people can help. Share Hand Up 4 East Africa with your friends, family and acquaintances giving them a glimpse of the hardship starving women and children are experiencing. Challenge them to raise awareness and if they are moved to also invest their resources to help save lives.

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About Hand Up 4 E. Africa

We're a group of friends who need your help. Moved by the devastating conditions East Africans are facing, we decided to walk in solidarity with those walking in search of relief. We have a big goal of raising $10k for those facing the perils of drought. Funds raised will go to the relief and development work of Mercy Corps, an international agency working to build secure, productive, and just communities.
As we walk 168 mile across Michigan, your support is vital to our success. Share our story, like us on Facebook, spread the word, donate a dollar, do what you can! The need is great, and we are thankful for your participation.

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We Walk for East Africa

The Route- 4 days, 174 miles

The Situation

The UN reports that more than 10 million people are threatened by starvation in four countries - Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti. Somalia is the worst hit, where at least six out of every 10,000 children die daily as a result. While international aid agencies desperately seek access to areas of Somalia rife with political instability and food insecurity, thousands of refugees depart in search of help.

How We Plan to Respond

Our goal is to walk the walk many East Africans trek in search of aid. We walk in solidarity with those who have no other choice. We walk to demonstrate the severity of the situation. We walk to illustrate that drought, political instability, and the resulting food scarcity, malnutrition and threat of death leave families with little other option than to flee blighted land by foot in search of reprieve.

Driven by the current famine in East Africa we walk to raise awareness and resources for the women, children and families affected. Funds raised will go to Mercy Corps, an international aid agency, to support ongoing relief and sustained food security in the region.

To raise much needed funds, beginning September 8 we will walk the distance that many starving and frail East Africans are walking for food and basic aid. We will traverse the state of Michigan ~168 miles from Holland to Detroit (Sept. 8-11). The journey will be blogged about here by the participants to share their reflections along the way.

Our walk pales in comparison to the excruciating passage trekked in the heat of shadeless plains, while sick and hungry. Though we could never truly imagine what it would be like to make a journey to save our lives, we walk in solidarity, and walk for relief and future security.